>> the picture shows president william howard taft and his wife helen herron taft in a limousine. the task were one of the first presidential amnesty is the automobile. i was chosen to illustrate how close and loving this couple was and why president tapped wrote her one of 13 letters while he was in the white house. >> who is now a? >> nellie was her name, her affectionate name within her family and then by the president. he always addressed her as my dear nellie or my dearest nellie. that's how her intimate new herb. >> where did they need and how did they meet? how long were they married, et cetera? >> they both grew up in cincinnati. and knew each other early on, but they didn't really start dating, they got to know each other in the 1880s after taft had come back from yale, was at the cincinnati law school and then he and nellie began keeping company and he proposed in 1884 and they were married june 1886. they had longer engages in those days, more than just a weekend. >> was she well known in cincinnati? did she come up from a family of renowned speakers yes, her family liv

this when he edited, my dearest nellie -- "my dearest nellie: the letters of william howard taft to helen herron taft, 1909-1912" while he was in the presidency, and this just coming out from oxford university press, theodore roosevelt. professor gould, thank you for being a booktv. >> thank you for having me. >> is there a nonfiction author a book you would like to see featured a booktv? send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. or tweet us at twitter.com/booktv. >> and now robert auerbach talk to booktv about his book, "deception and abuse at the fed." this interview, part of booktv's college series was recorded at the university of texas at austin. >> welcome on your screen out is professor of robert auerbach. is a professor of public affairs at the university of texas lbj school. professor gould is also the author of this book, deception and abuse at the fed, henry b. gonzalez battles alan greenspan's bank. first of all, or faster auerbach, who was henry gonzalez, for those who may not don't? >> he was the first mexican-american to be elected from texas to the u.s. congress. he was also

of 1912 with the help of brian but that summer when the republicans held there convention, william howard taft was opposed by former president roosevelt taft won and roosevelt was so bitter that he formed a third party, the progressive for bull moose party and was seen as a bigger competitor to wilson and was so popular. one of roosevelt's adviserspopu said we managed to obtain some letters. you should publish them and this campaign will be over. and roosevelt's said no. that would be wrong also said nobody would believe meyo. he looks like he ought to berkin working in a drugstore. who thinks he is a romeo? [laughter] he did not publish them and he won. the beginning of 1913 ellen found herself in the white house. not a place she ever wanted to be but once there she felt she had to use it for the maximum benefit prepare she began to be interested, in what we would now call urban renewal there was a maze of alleyways that bred crime and it to cease and full of dilapidated houses, but at that time the federal government was running the d district and wanted fed administration to tear down the h

that summer when the republicans held their convention, william howard taft, the incumbent was opposed by former president theodore roosevelt. taft won and roosevelt was so bitter over that loss that he formed a third-party, the progressive or bull moose party. >> and he was really seen as the bigger competitor to wilson. he was so popular. so one of roosevelt's advisors came up to him and he said, we've managed to obtain some letters of woodrow wilson's to mary peck. you should publish them and just campaign will be over. you will win. and roosevelt said, no, that would be wrong. also, he said nobody would believe me. who's going to think the man is a romeo. he looks like he ought to be working in a drugstore. [laughter] >> so he did not publish the letters and woodrow wilson won. so in the beginning of 1913, ellen found herself in the white house. it was not a place she ever wanted to be, but once she was there, she felt she had to use it for its maximum benefit. she began to be interested in what we would now call urban renewal. up here behind the capitol were a maze little alley wa

the agenda of the conference of his successor, william howard taft, who couldn't have cared less about and allowed to die in that conference never happened. however, when you do look back on tr now, 100 years later, i think it is the one achievement of his presidency that we should revere and remember as seminal. it's something of a homecoming of me to come to this particular stretch of term, and to be in the proximity of this particular castle, smithsonian castle, because i came here in the year 1983, long before any of you were born -- [laughter] why are you laughing? as a fellow of the wilson institute, the wilson center for scholars, which used to be headquartered here in the castle. i was a fellow for three months and that's where i began my second roosevelt biography, theodore rex. it's the first time that i have ever been in an academic environment among fellow scholars from all over the world, and i must confess that i felt very strange. hundred, in the company of these several guys with long strings of degrees with their names. i was given the study in, right up at the window

went to africa for the smithsonian institute, and while he was gone he had left behind for william howard taft his chief forester. the taft administration started giving sweetheart deals to corporations, what they called the guggenheim syndicate. it would be today's exxonmobil or shell. and giving them these sweetheart deals, clearcutting whole areas and leaving, really the beginning of the raping of the coal lands of alaska. pin cho blew a whistle and went to see roosevelt in italy, came back, and one of his first speeches he gave at the waldorf-astoria was between all the outdoor people, the america the beautiful movement. and roosevelt weighed in on it and ended up creating the most successful third party in american history, the bull moose party in 1912. and that bull moose conservation plank becomes what the ccc will become under fdr. roosevelt had all these ideas of how to inventory our biology in the country, but also save these treasured landscapes. >> you have a chapter in "the quiet world" called the new wilderness generation. who is that about? is. >> well, the new wilderness genera

history of this country is of the thirdk surge party was in 1912 when teddy roosevelt challenged william howard taft. all it did was pave the way for a democrat to get in. that is what some people fear, too. the tea party is a strong voice in the republican party. some people in that group have said, if we do not like the republican candidate, we will have a third one. republicans, including gingrich, argue that if you have three choices and you go for the third party, you are really electing president obama. third parties do not happen because it takes too much money. i think it is a shame. host: we have some comments from newt gingrich during an interview with the union leader. it happened on november 18. he talks about his prospects for beating president obama. we will show that and come back for some comments. >> i can vote to beat obama or i can voted to the left obama. there would be less tendency to have a third party this year than at any time in the third times because of the desperate desire to beat obama. if you say to people, who would you like to see debate obama, overwhelmingly day st.

in 1912, when former president roosevelt, teddy roosevelt challenge the sitting president, william howard taft. all the dead was pave the way for a democrat to get in. -- all it did was pave the way for a democrat to get in. the tea party is a strong voice in the republican party. some people in that group have said, if we do not like the republican candidate, we are going to have a third wind. the republicans, including gingrich -- third one. the republicans, including gingrich, say that if you do that, you are just reelecting obama. the third party will just take too much money. host: we have some comments from newt gingrich with the "union leader." in this particular clip, he talks about his prospects for beating president obama. we will show that and come back to comments. >> i can load and to beat obama or to elect obama -- i can vote to beat obama or to let obama. there is a desperate desire to beat obama. that is the biggest advantage i have. if you say to people, who would you like to see debate obama overwhelmingly, they say me. host: joe mcquaid, what do you hear in him that drives t

the history of this country is last to occur was thin 1912 when teddy roosevelt challenged william howard taft, and all it did was to pave the way for a democrat to get in common and a tea party is now a strong voice in the republican party and some people have said if we do not like the republican candidate we're going to have a third, and newt gingrich argues, if you go with a third party, you are reelecting president obama so third parties do not happen because it takes too much money, which i think is a shame. >> we do have some comments from newt gingrich on november 18, and in this particular clip he talks about his prospects for beating president obama. >> i cannot wait to beat obama and if i do not vote for the only major candidate against him, i would reelect him. the desperate desire to beat obama is so great. that is the biggest advantage i have because if you say to people who would you like to see debate obama overwhelmingly they say me. >> a little bit from newt gingrich on prospects of beating president obama. what do you hear from handim that drives a conviction? >> i think he

27% of the vote this year finishing second behind woodrow wilson but beating out incumbent william howard taftyou got that right. time to go to the heart of the political debate, where all sides are fair game. herman cain has denied claims he sexually harassed two women while she was head of the national restaurant association. he also said he knew nothing about settlements to the women of the maybe he did, not long after denying it he said he remembered more than he was saying. joining me now is cnn creditor maria cardona and public perception is the key here. has this made people think? >> it continues to underscore two things, first that this is not somebody who is ready for prime time, not somebody who is ever prepared to go the full way and secondly it brings up doubts if this is somebody that is looking to actually be president, huge doubts about his credibility, about whether he's able to handle a crisis communication situation and i think ultimately will make voters think that this is something somebody they can see as their commander in chief. >> we have a new interview with herman ca

in 1912, when former president roosevelt, teddy roosevelt, challenge the sitting president, william howard taftl the dead was pave the way for a democrat to get in. -- all it did was pave the way for a democrat to get in. the tea party is a strong voice in the republican party. some people in that group have said, if we do not like the republican candidate, we are going to have a third wind. the republicans, including gingrich -- third one. the republicans, including gingrich, say that if you do that, you are just reelecting obama. the third party will just take too much money. host: we have some comments from newt gingrich with the "union leader." in this particular clip, he talks about his prospects for beating president obama. we will show that and come back to comments. >> i can load and to beat obama or to elect obama -- i can vote to beat obama or to let obama. there is a desperate desire to beat obama. that is the biggest advantage i have. if you say to people, who would you like to see debate obama, overwhelmingly, they say me. host: joe mcquaid, what do you hear in him that drives the

writing the decision chief justice william howard taft stated that, quote, the object of the -- to be secured by the act is the free and unburdened flow of livestock from the ranges and farms of the west and the southwest through the great stockyards and slaughtering centers on the borders of that region. and then in the form of meat products to the consuming cities of the country in the middle west and east. are still as livestock to the feeding places and fattening farms in the middle west or east for further preparation from the market. he went on to state that in his opinion any practice which, quote, unduly and directly, unquote, effects the expenses incurred during the passage of livestock through the stockyards is a, quote, unjust obstruction to that commerce. and as a result congress has the ability to step in and regulate it. here the court rules that the commerce clause allows congress to act as if it believes that a local entity is preventing the free and unburdened flow of a good which could have its roots in multiple states such as cattle moving, stockyards, and the packa